So many graduations occurred over the weekend and it was fun to see all the pictures on Facebook. Not sure when all my friends got old enough to have college graduates though.

Long after I graduated from VCU, this song from from Baz Luhrmann came out. The lyrics are based on a commencement speech written in 1997 by Mary Schmich, a columnist with the Chicago Tribune.  I thought it was a great then and I still do. I don’t remember my college commencement speaker at all but my high school speaker was none other than Jeane Dixon, the famous astrologer from The National Enquirer. She didn’t make any predictions for us though.

Wear Sunscreen has a lot of memorable lines. A few I took to heart:

1. Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.
2. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.
3. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Here is the full text:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column-column.html

The song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

Graduation day from VCU.